The present invention relates to a roll apparatus of a continuous caster and a cylindrical roller bearing for supporting a roll of a continuous caster.
Generally, a continuous caster is provided with roll groups each comprising a set of long and short rolls arranged coaxially via bearings for pinching a cast piece which is drawn from a mold and is being transferred at upper and lower positions thereof. Plenty of the roll groups are aligned along a direction of transferring the cast piece. The roll groups are used as support rolls, guide rolls and pinch rolls as classified by functions thereof.
In order to absorb bending of the rolls accompanied by transferring the cast piece, self-aligning roller bearings or cylindrical roller bearings with aligning rings are used as bearings for rotatably supporting rolls constituting the respective roll groups around axis centers thereof.
When the self-aligning roller bearing is used as a bearing for supporting the roll attached to the continuous caster as described above, uneven wear caused by low speed and high load is liable to be produced. And when the cylindrical roller bearing with aligning ring is used, a roller having a small diameter needs to be used in a limited space in a diameter direction. Therefore, a roller diameter and a pitch circle diameter of a roller set, that is, a diameter of a circle formed by connecting centers of the rollers (P.C.D. of roller) are reduced and a load capacity of the roller bearing is also reduced.